


Retreat

by deafgaynerd



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21730858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deafgaynerd/pseuds/deafgaynerd
Summary: Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak are head drum majors of different schools that meet at a drum major camp and get to know each other.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	Retreat

Dean Winchester strolled into the building where the drum major classes were being held for the camp his directors made people go to and pulled out his phone. ‘ _ Sammy, I made it, make sure to clean up the living room while I’m gone and I’ll go get you ice cream and stuff,’  _ he texted his little brother. He started towards the massive group of people that stood in the middle of the room, but something caught his eye.  _ A vending machine _ . He walked over to it and pulled out his wallet. He looked it over and saw beef jerky.  _ Rich kids.  _ He got the jerky and walked over to the group, eating it. 

"Hi, Dean!" Charlie Bradbury exclaimed happily. 

"Heya, Charlie, what's everyone standing around for?" Dean asked, hugging the junior who went to his school. She was like a little sister to him. 

"We're all waiting for everyone to show up. Not everybody's signed in y- Oh! We need to sign you in!" She grinned back at Dean and pulled on his arm. "Let's go, we have to get to registration!" Dean followed Charlie slowly, just to piss her off. "Dean Winchester, I swear to God."

"Oh okay Ms. Suddenly-I'm-Not-Lesbian-Or-Atheist ."

"Okay, one, rude. Two, let's go." She grimaced as Dean picked her up.

"Where to,  princess _. _ " He mocked. She pointed to the desk with a huff. 

"Hello, and who might you be?" The lady asked. She wasn't very old, maybe in her mid-20s and was dressed like them, in work out clothes. 

"Dean Winchester, Senior, Sunny Mead High." He rattled off, just as he had the year before, except saying junior in place of senior.

The woman smiled. "Here you go, Mr. Winchester." She handed him a name badge and he put it on his shirt. 

Charlie started pulling at his arm and they walked back towards the block of teenagers.

Dean smiled softly at people as he started mingling. He met some people who were from way out of town, from the other high school in his district, and some who he'd remembered competing against in his previous years of high school. He was bombarded with names including Michael, Lukas, Anna, Robert, Mark, Andrew and so many others that Dean couldn't even remember all of them. He put his hands in his pockets and found the other half of his beef jerky.  _ When did I put that there? _ He thought to himself, rather annoyed that he hadn't found it earlier. 

During their lunch break, Dean and Charlie sat down at a table and started eating. Someone walked up to them, "May I sit here? Everywhere else is full..." 

Dean looked up from his food and was caught by surprise at the very handsome gentleman was standing in front of him with his jet black hair, piercing blue eyes and naïve but kick ass demeanor.  _ There is no way that you could have picked up those details if you just met him. Maybe he was near you in practice? Or you've seen him before.  _ Dean shakes his head.  _ It doesn't matter, Dean. You're not here to socialize, you're here to learn.  _ While Dean was having an inner monologue, Charlie had already said yes to the overly handsome boy. 

The boy sat down directly across from Dean and smiled sheepishly. "My name's Castiel." Dean nodded,  _ Castiel. I finally get a name for this beautiful face. Goddammit, Dean. Get ahold of yourself, you need to focus, you're trying to be a good drum major.  _

"I'm Dean, this is Charlie" Dean motions to the redhead sitting next to him. Castiel nodded and looked at Charlie. 

“So what grade are you going into?” Castiel asked, smiling softly and warmly and Dean had to look away for fear of attracting feelings for the kid.

“I’m going to be a junior.” She grins and pushes her hair back, it wasn’t exactly short, but it didn’t even go past her shoulders, so Dean didn’t know what to describe it as. He wasn’t like a girl or Sam who could give a perfect description with detail and imagery, he was a man. And he definitely wasn’t some pansy who lets feelings and affections get in the way of his work. He was a work hard person and he- “Dude, answer Cas’ question.” Charlie hits Dean, interrupting his inner monologue.

“What did you ask?” Dean says, laughing nervously. 

"What grade are you going into, Dean?" Castiel asks patiently, smiling at him softly and making Dean want to either run away or rip his clothes off. 

"Senior. I'm going to be a senior." Dean spits out, shaking his head and taking a bite of the sandwich that was provided. 

"Oh, cool, same here. Are you trying out to be head drum major?" Castiel asks Dean a followup question.

"Um yeah, I am, I was a drum major last year too, so..."

"That’s great! I love when juniors get to be drum majors, it does wonders for their esteem." Castiel voiced. Dean scoffs and Castiel frowns. “I am not joking, Dean. It was beneficial to myself last year, and it was beneficial to the senior drum major that I knew when I was a junior, Amara was really good at being head drum major with everything she learned from doing it the year before.” Castiel looks at Dean dead in the face as he’s saying this and Dean nods at him and looks away, trying not to blush. He hadn’t meant to make Castiel upset, which he tells him, and explains that he just thought that the esteem thing was a bit much.

At this, Castiel shook his head, looking wise for his years and announced that it was always important to focus on the mental health of everyone, especially kids. Dean looked at him in awe, wondering just how amazing this boy really was. Charlie took one look at him and burst out laughing, causing Dean to jump and Castiel to smile softly and look at her quizzically. She just shook her head and went back to eating, which prompted the boys to do the same, the rest of lunch consisting of small getting to know each other conversation.

After this first meeting, Dean had learned the following things about Castiel: His last name was Novak. He had two older brothers Jimmy and Gabriel, an older sister Anna, and an older sibling Hannah, who was nonbinary. He played flute and had been All State last year. He was also a senior, returning to be head drum major at his school. Dean had then nicknamed him Cas and informed him about Sam, and how he basically took care of him with minimal help from his dad, he was a percussionist, and how he had changed his whole band’s opinion on LGBT people by coming out to them. Charlie told Cas about her adoption and that she plays trombone, and that she actually helped Dean change his band around because she also came out at the same time. They all went back to their block smiling, because they had a new friend.

The next day, Cas smiled and waved at Dean when they started the day and showed up to the table at lunch with a younger kid. The kid explained that his name was Kevin Tran and he was actually a sophomore but from a district where marching band had started in seventh grade so they let sophomores be drum major if they tried and made it. Kevin joined their group for the rest of the camp. 

They broke up into groups for all the different classes that were being offered from conducting to leadership training to a class that just went through the most common ways people learn and how to help their band kids learn what they needed to do for their show. Originally, Dean was not in a group with anyone he knew, or that he had met at lunch but halfway through the week long camp, they switched up the groups, to lead to new teaching opportunities and connections. This new grouping led to Dean and Castiel in the same group. Small smiles and soft half-touches were abundant and they were always standing close to each other during these classes. 

At the end of the week, Dean stood in front of Castiel looking down at the ground and shifting his weight every few seconds.  _ Get a grip, Winchester. Just ask him for his number. _ He scolded himself and looked up into Castiel’s eyes, once again overcome with how cute he found this boy with his very blue eyes and looked away again. Castiel smiled at him and then over to Charlie who was waiting for Dean against the door of his Impala. He looked back to Dean and shook his head at the boy’s nervous movements before lifting Dean’s head to look at him and laughing as he put his hand back down to grab his phone. “Dean, hey, we should exchange numbers so that we can talk, you’re a really great person to talk to,” Castiel said to Dean, handing his phone over with the “new contact” screen open. Dean took Castiel’s phone, ignoring the rush of emotions he felt when their fingers made contact, and put in his number before texting himself.

“I have to take Charlie home now, but text me,” Dean called out to Castiel. Castiel nodded and waved as Dean unlocked the car and he and Charlie got in it. 

“Dean, did you forget how to drive?” Charlie asked, after it seemed apparent that Dean was going to need to be pushed to function normally again. He had just been staring at Castiel from his car, thinking about all the fun that they had. Charlie’s question shook him out of his daze and he started the car, driving off. “Did you get his number?” Charlie questioned after they were heading home. When Dean nodded, she did too. “That’s good, you guys were really into each other and you’d be cute.” Which caused Dean to turn to look at her in shock.

“He wasn’t into me Charlie, he’s straight.” Dean shook his head again, because he couldn’t believe that Castiel wasn’t straight, he didn’t want another heartbreak. Charlie sighed and left Dean alone for the rest of the car ride. 

Once Charlie was dropped off, Dean turned up the music and drove back home. He stopped by the store on the way to get some more ice cream and an actual dinner for Sam and himself and made Sam dinner. Sam talked about getting ready for school and how his day was. He mentioned that John had shown up for about 30 minutes, looking for whatever before running back off again. Sam looked sad when he said that John had left again and so Dean did his best to distract him. Unfortunately, this meant telling Sam about Castiel.

“Wait Dean, you’ve got a crush? It’s been years since you genuinely liked someone. What’s he like? Where’d you meet him? It is a him, right? What’s he look like? Do you think he’d like me? Do you think he likes  _ you _ ? Are you going to see him again? Did you get his number?” Sam spewed out questions a mile a minute, excited that his older brother actually was interested in another person. 

Dean laughed at his enthusiasm and nodded at him. “He’s a little bit shorter than me, with dark hair that looks black until you see it in the sun and you realise it isn’t, it’s just dark in almost all lighting, and blue eyes that changes in shades like the sky and are so easy to get lost in. His name is Castiel, I met him at the drum major camp and he probably doesn’t like me. I did get his number, though.” He showed Sam his phone.

“Have you texted him?” Sam said and when Dean shook his head, he grabbed his phone and started opening a text to Castiel. Dean yelled at him, but Sam typed out “Hey it was nice to hang out with you” and sent it before handing back the phone to Dean. “Now you have texted him, enjoy!” He called over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.

Dean stared at his phone, scared, before calling Charlie. When she picked up, he rushed out a greeting before saying “Sam texted Cas from my phone and I’m freaking out.” He could hear Charlie laughing, and just knew that she was rolling her eyes at him.

“Okay, what did Sam say?” She asked, to get the full scope of the situation. When he told her, she laughed even harder than the first time. “Dean calm down, you’re not gonna die having a conversation with him. You literally talked all week. Sit down and test him when he replies and don’t be scared of the boy, he likes you too, I promise. Stop being a dumbass, Winchester. Woman up.” That’s how she ended the call, hanging up on him without listening to him start another spiral. 

**Cas: Hello Dean. I agree with the idea of it being nice to hang out.**

**_Dean: Hey Cas_ **

**Cas: Yes, you said that, Dean.**

**_Dean: Right sorry uh do you know what your show is going to be like this year_ **

**Cas: Nice change of subject there, Dean. All we have so far is the name, Beyond the Veil, and the first part of the music. I think it’s going to be very fun though. Do you know anything about yours?**

**_Dean: we’re having a show about Beethoven! I’m so excited it’s going to be great, we only have the first two parts of the show but it’s going to be called Immortal and the first parts are Moonlight Sonata and his 5th symphony_ **

**Cas: That sounds like a blast to play and I’m sure you will lead your band wonderfully, Dean**

**_Dean: aw thanks Cas, you’re gonna lead your band awesome too, you’re too great not to_ **

**_Dean: uh i mean uh you’re gonna be a good drum major_ **

**Cas: Well, thank you Dean. That’s very kind of you.**

**_Dean: hey cas, im going to bed, i have a busy weekend prepping for band camp starting next week, ill talk to you later, yeah?_ **

**Cas: Of course, Dean. Sweet dreams.**

Dean plugged his phone in before going to double check all the locks and lights. “Good night, Sammy!” he calls, getting a “night!” in response. He laid in bed, smiling softly at the fact that he had managed to talk to Castiel. 

Throughout the month of band camp, he and Castiel would talk about anything and everything that they were dealing with. They became each other’s rocks and outlets for little frustrations that were bound to come up when dealing with hundreds of people all at once. Castiel had gotten in the habit of sending good morning texts, as he was up a little bit earlier than Dean and Dean sent good night texts because he stayed up a little later. The week of their first football game, and thus first performance, Dean woke up to his usual morning text, but with it was Castiel wishing him good luck at the game. Dean smiled and replied to Castiel, wishing him luck at his own school’s football game.

At that football game, Dean started a new thing, knowing that his school played Cas’ at the end of the season. He cleared it with his band directors to go and introduce himself, his other drum majors and his captains to the other band, and invited their drum majors over to be introduced to his band. He really enjoyed getting to know the different school’s drum majors and added some to his friends. No one was ever as special to him as Castiel was, though, but that didn’t matter to him.

They had a Bands of America competition that Castiel’s school was also going to so Dean knew he was going to get to see Castiel after prelims, and that got him through a few grueling days of bad rehearsals before some good ones right before the competition. The morning of the competition, he and Castiel wished each other luck and got excited about the idea of seeing each other for results and to see which bands made finals.

“Cas!” Dean called out when he, Charlie, and the other two drum majors arrived at the area they were summoned to. Cas smiled and excused himself from his fellow drum majors and made his way over to hug Dean.

“Hey Dean!” Castiel said happily. The two of them made small talk before they began introducing each other to the drum majors from their schools that the other didn’t know. The other drum majors smiled knowingly at each other, seeing their leaders talking to each other so excitedly. 

After a few minutes, They lined up the drum majors to announce who made finals, which both Castiel and Dean’s bands did. They had to go back to their respective bands, but they made a plan to meet on the side one 45 near the front hash when they broke for retreat. 

After performing in finals, both bands made the top three overall with Dean’s being second and Castiel’s being third. They met up once they broke ranks and gave each other big hugs while congratulating each other and smiling widely. It took a while for them to break apart, but they eventually had to go back home. This routine of meeting happened for the next three competitions that they were both in.

Throughout the marching season, the two boys got closer and closer and soon were openly flirting with each other. By this point, Dean was pretty sure that Castiel liked him too and planned to ask him out.

**_Dean: hey Cas, I have a question for you_ **

**Cas: Yes, Dean?**

**_Dean: Would you want to go on a date with me? I could come pick you up._ **

**Cas: Dean, that sounds wonderful.**

**_Dean: yeah?_ **

**Cas: Yeah <3**

**_Dean: okay, cas, I’m gonna plan us a great date, when’s the next time you’re free?_ **

**Cas: Oh fuck, not until after marching season**

**_Dean: hey that’s okay, do you want to uh_ **

**Cas: Want to what?**

**_Dean: Do you want to be boyfriends?_ **

**Cas: I would like nothing more, Dean. <3**

**_Dean: you’re my boyfriend! <3_ **

**_Dean: I’m your boyfriend!_ **

**Cas: Yeah, Dean, you are.**

Dean was walking on air, for quite a while, and people noticed. Charlie and Sam just laughed at him and told him that they were happy for him. They had one last competition of the season, and Dean was very excited. It was going to be the first time that he had seen Castiel since they had become boyfriends and he wanted nothing more than to hug him and hold his hand and  _ maybe _ kiss him, depending on what he could get away with. 

“Break ranks,” The announcer said and Dean hugged his fellow bandmates, handing their trophy off to another one and walked right over to where he was meeting Castiel. They hugged each other very tight and Dean laughed and kissed Castiel’s cheek. They held hands all the way back to the busses and were very sad to have to part, but excited that they would get to see each other again that next week because it was finally the day where their schools played each other for football.

Once both bands had performed, Dean took his entourage of people over to Castiel’s band and talked to them before bringing Castiel and some of his band over to meet his own. He got up on the podium with a big smile on his face and took the microphone.

“Hey Band!” Dean called out, with a chorus of “Hey what?” that was returned. “I have someone special to introduce to you this week! This is Castiel, he’s their head drum major and- drum roll please!” He told percussion who all gave him one because they love it. “He’s my boyfriend!” He said and smiled as all his friends and his band cheered for him and for Castiel. Castiel gives him a peck on the cheek before returning back to his own band.

The next week, now that the marching season is done, Dean takes Cas on a date where they finally have their first kiss and spend the rest of their senior year together.

**Author's Note:**

> The two shows that are Cas and Dean's are actually shows that my high school put on when I was there and I love them a lot. Also, I started writing this years ago (probably when I was still in high school) but never finished it, but I found it today and decided to finish it so I hope you liked it!


End file.
